RPG Writeups — Rifts Index & Adventures

1	Volume 1, Part 1: “Dedicated to the thousands of fans who have made the Rifts RPG® a part of their Megaverse®.”
2	Volume 1, Part 2: “G.M. Note: The scout’s fever makes him immune to the creature’s mind control powers, something that may serve the group well.”
3	Volume 1, Part 3: “It’s a picture of a pleasant looking woman in her forties, wearing a homespun dress and holding a kitten.”
4	Volume 1, Part 4: “If they investigate other rumors or leads, they may discover some answers or more disturbing questions, or stumble into the Juicer Uprising, or get themselves killed. Have fun.”
5	Volume 1, Part 5: “How would one assign an alignment value to a force of nature?”
6	Volume 1, Part 6: “Having gotten quite drunk, the major staggers back to headquarters, notices young Prosek, and says ‘Skelebot, hie ... there's that blasted Prosek, shoot him!’”
7	Volume 1, Part 7: “If the players open the barrels and complain, the GM can smile and explain that they were warned about the dangers.”
8	Volume Two, Part 1: "It can also be fun for the player characters to role play the creature once he or she has become a victim (I usually offer experience toward a new P.C. both as compensation and as an incentive for good role-playing of the creature)."
9	Volume Two, Part 2: "Upon investigation of the creature's lair, the group will uncover several skeletons and bones from children, putting to rest the string of child disappearances that had been taking place over the past six months."
10	Volume Two, Part 3: "The preacher has a good thing going here, and will certainly not appreciate the party's interference."
11	Volume Two, Part 4: "Ezekiel is not your average saloon bum."
12	Volume Two, Part 5: "And any robot pilot worth their marbles will tell ya that the materials used in the armor composition will block magic and psychic energies needed to casts spells."
13	Volume Two, Part 6: "Game Masters, I suggest you roleplay a little of the setting, just to help relate the boredom (a few minutes in real time should begin to produce yawns)."
14	Volume Two, Part 7: "But it has to seem natural and seamless so that your players get the feeling of having made the decision themselves."
15	Volume Two, Part 8: "Mayfair's eyes are particularly captivating and he's considered an irresistible female magnet."
16	"Welcome to the savagery of Rifts Australia."

Volume 1, Part 1: “Dedicated to the thousands of fans who have made the Rifts RPG® a part of their Megaverse®.”

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, Part 1: “Dedicated to the thousands of fans who have made the Rifts RPG® a part of their Megaverse®.”

And now, for something somewhat different.

The Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1 review is going to be delivered in an audio format. I wanted to do a bit of an experiment and this is a fairly safe space for that, due to the relatively tangential nature of this book. Also, I needed something interesting to distract me from being reminded of the utter meaninglessness in reviewing a book like Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, and the bottomless pit of melancholy which could easily result.

I apologize for the amateurish presentation in advance - this is my first time doing something like this, and there are plenty of ums and lipsmacks. I have no excuse other than the fact that if I worked to make sure it was perfect, it likely would never have seen release. This part has a particularly rough cut that I didn’t notice until it was too much of a pain to fix, as well. Nonetheless, I’d like to hear what you think.

As a side note, I mention that Rifts Sourcebook 2: Mechanoids wasn’t included in the index because it was too new! That’s wrong!... I have no idea why it’s not in the index! Maybe it’s not “canon”? Who knows?

Here’s part 1 of the review! In related news, life has no purpose!

Also, here’s a visual guide of some of the pictures mentioned in the review.

_{Various pieces of concept art by Kevin Long.}

_{A picture of Triax fighting Brodkil not from any previous book.}

Next: A town is terrorized by a giant mind-controlling fart.

Volume 1, Part 2: “G.M. Note: The scout’s fever makes him immune to the creature’s mind control powers, something that may serve the group well.”

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, Part 2: “G.M. Note: The scout’s fever makes him immune to the creature’s mind control powers, something that may serve the group well.”

There are times when trying to write a blurb for Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1 review that I have to think “Hundreds of thousands of years as a species has brought me to this. To this.” Then I drown my sorrows in chocolate banana milk like the damned useless monkey I am.

This is probably one of the rougher parts since I was just getting into the swing of things? Well, it’s a rough adventure. For rough GMs. I tried listening to this in the car and, boy. Podcasters make recording stuff sound easy, literally.

Here’s part 2 of the review! Death is now closer for us all.

Also, here’s the visual guide for part 2.

_{A man named Redge.}

_{The “Cloud Thing”.}

Next: Caverns and Dragons. (It's time for some accuracy over alliteration.)

Volume 1, Part 3: “It’s a picture of a pleasant looking woman in her forties, wearing a homespun dress and holding a kitten.”

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, Part 3: “It’s a picture of a pleasant looking woman in her forties, wearing a homespun dress and holding a kitten.”

I mean, I’m not kidding in the review, there is a point where a man tries to guilt the PCs into doing the right thing with picture involving a kitten. Speaking of kittens, I understand they don’t ever feel compelled to write reviews of Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1. That sounds nice. While I’m fantasizing a furrier existence, here’s an adventure where if you scratch out the word “cyber” you can just use it for Dungeons & Dragons. Well, you can use it if your Dungeons & Dragons games take place in Wyoming, anyway. (Well, at least it’s not the Forgotten Realms.)

Usual caveats involving my bumbling and sound quality apply.

Here’s part 3 of the review! This is the reason I will suffer in the next life.

The visual guide for part 3 has:

_{The obviously trustworthy Sir Randall Aswell.}

_{Don’t do things like this to innocent artwork, publishers.}

Next: Mmmetaplot.

Volume 1, Part 4: “If they investigate other rumors or leads, they may discover some answers or more disturbing questions, or stumble into the Juicer Uprising, or get themselves killed. Have fun.”

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, Part 4: “If they investigate other rumors or leads, they may discover some answers or more disturbing questions, or stumble into the Juicer Uprising, or get themselves killed. Have fun.”

Fun. That word seems so far away now. Maybe it’s just because I’m reviewing Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1 that all joy has vanished. I walk through my daily life, knowing I am a person who has not only completed this review, but have to live on with the knowledge that I did it. I did this thing. I don’t know if I can ever be forgiven. Also, enjoy the metaplot!

I apologize for the “impersonations”. No identification with Coalition personnel (living or deceased) is intended or should be inferred.

Here’s part 4 of the review! It exists.

Also, here’s a visual guide to part 4:

_{The new Coalition armor previewed here… except it’s not the design that they’ll actually use! Ooops.}

Next: The Rifter®.

Volume 1, Part 5: “How would one assign an alignment value to a force of nature?”

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, Part 5: “How would one assign an alignment value to a force of nature?”

More importantly, what alignment am I? Let's start with the good alignments. A principled character will “Always keep his word.” Nope, not me. A scrupulous character will “Keep his word to any other good person.” Do I know any good people? Hm. Well, I think I’ve broken my word to decent people, at least. So that’s out.

I drop down into selfish alignment at this point. An unscrupulous character will “Keep his word of honor.”, so that’s out. So, I look at anarchist, who will “Keep his word, but only if it suits or pleases him.” Ding! Okay! Let’s move on. An anarchist will “Lie and cheat if he feels it necessary.” I’ve played Illuminati, sure.“Not be likely to kill an unarmed foe, but certainly kill knock out, attack, or beat up once.” I’ve gotten in a few fist-fights. “Never kill an innocent, although his rash or self-serving actions may injure or kill bystanders by accident.” I hit a raccoon once and felt really bad about it. “Use torture to extract information…” Nope. Bzzt. Anarchist is out.

Time to look at evil. Aberrant… word of honor, lie and cheat… may or may not kill an unnamed foe… that’s all vague enough I can work with. “... may harm, harass, or kidnap.” Well, that’s out. Miscreant will “Lie and cheat indiscriminately.”, so I’m disqualified there. Diabolic will “Lie and cheat anyone.” No.

Well, I just found out I qualify for no Palladium alignments. I’m left with the only possible option left… neutral. Which Siembieda tells us is “humanly impossible", but I'm obviously not so sure. Feel free to work out what alignment you might fall under! I'm betting it's neutral.

I forgot to note in the audio review that The Rifter™ is ™, so just imagine me shouting “TRADEMARK!” every time I mention the term. Usual issues about my audio amateurishness still apply.

Here’s part 5 of the review! It’s not worth any experience points.

And here’s the visual companion:

_{This is supposed to be a The Rifter™, but doesn’t resemble the one in the adventure at all. Probably just leftover art for a psychic.}

Next: Terminator Team-Up Two-in-One

Volume 1, Part 6: “Having gotten quite drunk, the major staggers back to headquarters, notices young Prosek, and says ‘Skelebot, hie ... there's that blasted Prosek, shoot him!’”

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Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, Part 6: “Having gotten quite drunk, the major staggers back to headquarters, notices young Prosek, and says ‘Skelebot, hie ... there's that blasted Prosek, shoot him!’”

The Mechanoids are terminators that hate humanity.

The Skelebots are terminators that help humanity.

What happens when they meet?

Well nothing fucking interesting, I’m gonna spoil that. It’s two tastes that taste second-rate together in Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1. Instead, why not read 1992’s Robocop vs. the Terminator instead, and dream of the adventure that could have been.

Here’s part 6 of the review! I’d count my regrets but the counter broke.

All of the art is copied from Rifts Sourcebook or Rifts Sourcebook 2: The Mechanoids, so check out those reviews for an idea of what the copy-pasted art is like.

Next: Cyber-Knights of the Dinner Table.

Volume 1, Part 7: “If the players open the barrels and complain, the GM can smile and explain that they were warned about the dangers.”

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Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1, Part 7: “If the players open the barrels and complain, the GM can smile and explain that they were warned about the dangers.”

It’s time to fill the gaping hole that is our lives with some adventure seeds provided by Jolly Blackburn and others that will help us destroy the fun and egos of whoever foolishly wanders into our gaming table. It’s time for Palladium to play dirty.

This is mercifully the last of my fumbling voice. I think this is the best one to listen to if you listen to any of them, though - my exasperation with how bad these adventure hooks are is palpable.

Here’s part 7 of the review! Maybe things will be okay-

Wait, how many Rifts books are left?

How many?

Too many.

There isn’t any art left in the book, so there’s none here, either. However, I’ve also included a full (104 MB) .zip album of the whole review. And that's all!... until Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 2, anyway.

Next: Power. Respect. Juice. How far would you go to get it?

Volume Two, Part 1: "It can also be fun for the player characters to role play the creature once he or she has become a victim (I usually offer experience toward a new P.C. both as compensation and as an incentive for good role-playing of the creature)."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

Warning!

There's one thing that comes to mind when this warning comes up.

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

Violence and the Supernatural

It only comes to my mind, I'm pretty certain.

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

The fictional World of Rifts® is violent, deadly and filled with supernatural monsters and strange powers. Other dimensional beings, often referred to as "demons," torment, stalk and prey on humans. Other alien life forms, monsters, gods and demigod, as well as magic, psychic powers, insanity, and war are all elements in this
book.

I'm confident I'm unique in this.

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

Some parents may find the violence, magic and supernatural elements of the game inappropriate for young readers/players. We suggest parental discretion. Please note that none of us at Palladium Books® condone or encourage the occult, the practice of magic, the use of drugs, suicide, or violence.

Four words: "Here we goooo... again..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqI5_RA-o4s#t=19s

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 1: "It can also be fun for the player characters to role play the creature once he or she has become a victim (I usually offer experience toward a new P.C. both as compensation and as an incentive for good role-playing of the creature)."

In case you're wondering, there's a book and I in that video metaphor, and I'm not the ape. Who knew this was one of the rougher reviews I'd have to handle? Well, it doesn't start that bad, but by the end... In any case, it's time for another audio review, and this time I like to think of it as "almost a podcast" quality. Still, this is likely the last time you'll see this particular format - but like a Noh actor, I must leave this book series the way I came in.

_{Here at Palladium, they use every part of the Kevin Long backlog.}

Click here for Part 1 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers the Hook, Line, and Sinker adventure seeds written by Craig Crawford, who also wrote the index.
Production values! Kind of. The audio protion was definitely produced, no promises of value.
This is one of the few books with no apparent sign of Kevin Siembieda writing in it. It's Siembieda-free! Don't get your hopes up based on that.
Craig Crawford wrote the indexes. Kevin Crawford does OSR innovation. They're different Crawfords!
As far as I can tell, all of the art is reused or unused art for other books, and is appro of nothing.
The index is way more convoluted than I have the time or patience to really get into. Suffice it to say that there are entries like "Coalition Views on Native Americans" or "Game Masters Tips on Juicer Sports". It's like they literally just tried to index every header in a Rifts book, even though section headers for Palladium games are disorganized and arbitrary.
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{"'You'll get to menace adventurers!', he says. 'You'll be iconic!', he says. Instead I end up as filler in a index book? Fucking agents."}

Next: Does a Baal-Rog shit in the woods?

Volume Two, Part 2: "Upon investigation of the creature's lair, the group will uncover several skeletons and bones from children, putting to rest the string of child disappearances that had been taking place over the past six months."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 2: "Upon investigation of the creature's lair, the group will uncover several skeletons and bones from children, putting to rest the string of child disappearances that had been taking place over the past six months."

This is almost like a prelude to The Rifter, as this supplement is clearly being used as a clearing house to vet people who would go on to work for later books. Predictably, this will not work out terribly well for anybody involved, at least as far as the notion of becoming a Palladium author goes. The Siembiedan imperative is still much too strong.

Click here for Part 1 of the review!
Click here for Part 2 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers the Hook, Line, and Sinker adventure seeds written by Eric Thompson, who will get partial credit for Rifts World Book 20: Canada. You can guess who gets primary credit there.
What is it with corrupt corporations fucking over freelancers without any particular motivation or reason to do so? Well, here's another. It doesn't even get a name. It's just an evil corporation.
The scenario that name-drops the Mechanoids dictates that it has to take place on the East Coast, despite the fact there is no clear reason for it to do so. Maybe it's from some version of the hook that actually had something to do with the Mechanoids?
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{Surplus art of Native American robots from Spirit West. Don't know why this didn't make it into the book, it's kind of neat.}

Next: Good preachers and bad preachers.

Volume Two, Part 3: "The preacher has a good thing going here, and will certainly not appreciate the party's interference."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 3: "The preacher has a good thing going here, and will certainly not appreciate the party's interference."

It's time to wrap up the Hook, Line, and Sinker adventures before moving on the actual adventures. The whole Hook, Line, Sinker format feels just kind of limiting and it's hard to ignore how many writers just start effectively ignoring it. I'm sure it seemed like a clever gimmick, but not every adventure hook needs a twist. But it's definitely Palladium style to grab onto one format and just never let go.

Click here for Part 1 of the review!
Click here for Part 2 of the review!
Click here for Part 3 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers the Hook, Line, and Sinker adventure seeds written by Christopher Jones, who will contribute to The Rifter, but that's all that I'm aware of. He also writes "Treasure Hunt", coming up next.
I completely missed the adventure hook "The Simvan's Prey", where there are two Cyber-Knights pinned down by a ground of Simvan Monster Hunters. The twist is that even through the Simvan are traditionally bad and the Cyber-Knights are traditionally good, these Cyber-Knights have been murdering local Simvan and that the Simvan are looking to stop them. Another hook designed to punish PCs for good samaritanship, and no, I would not run it.
Three of these hooks - "The Mark of the Wolverine", "The Simvan's Prey", and "The Preacher" all have the PCs dealing with themes of revenge. I imagine this is flogging one concept rather than deliberate, though.
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{Pretty sure this picture of interspecies dentistry was used somewhere in Palladium Fantasy.}

Next: A stolen treasure map?!

Volume Two, Part 4: "Ezekiel is not your average saloon bum."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 4: "Ezekiel is not your average saloon bum."

Time for a full adventure! This is a very average adventure. Which means it's one of the better Rifts adventures, grading on a curve. It's all downhill after this, though. Way, way downhill.

Click here for Part 1 of the review!
Click here for Part 2 of the review!
Click here for Part 3 of the review!
Click here for Part 4 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers the adventure "Treasure Hunt" written by Christopher Jones, who once again is a Rifter contributor, but nothing else I'm aware of.
I cut an unfunny joke referencing the "Far West" kickstarter. All other unfunny jokes remain intact.
It can't be understated how much detail the Coalition soldiers get considering many groups will likely never interact with them.
Seriously, their officer is "unprincipled", yet guns down a man for his treasure map, and then goes down to claim jump the PCs. I'm guessing the writer has a flexible definition of what a "good" alignment allows.
Except it can't be flexible! Unprincipled characters "Have a high regard for life and freedom.", "Will not kill an unarmed foe.", and "Never harm an innocent.", all rules Major Garret Benford manages to break in the first two or so pages of the adventure.
They're also written very sympathetically they're written even though - once again - they're rail gun fodder as far as the plot goes.
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{This menacing Coalition armor emerging from the water? Never shows up in the adventure.}

Next: "Fuck this adventure, let's go to the circus."

Volume Two, Part 5: "And any robot pilot worth their marbles will tell ya that the materials used in the armor composition will block magic and psychic energies needed to casts spells."

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Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 5: "And any robot pilot worth their marbles will tell ya that the materials used in the armor composition will block magic and psychic energies needed to casts spells."

It's time for the second full adventure, and this one might seem really incoherent, because this adventure is really incoherent and kind of meanders around before delivering a limp noodle of a conclusion. Does a mystery the players don't have to solve really need a huge red herring or two? This author thought so!

Click here for Part 1 of the review!
Click here for Part 2 of the review!
Click here for Part 3 of the review!
Click here for Part 4 of the review!
Click here for Part 5 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers the adventure "Adventure in the Big City" written by Eric Thompson, who will contribute to Rifts World Book 20: Canada and Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, once Siembieda pushes him aside to grab the mic.
Apologies for the dramatic readings in advance. There were too many parts that are just written for a GM to blather at the PCs without interruption. I couldn't resist.
I had to read the whole "holographic netting in a garbage dump" description many, many times before coming up with an interpretation I thought sounded correct. And it doesn't even have anything to do with the plot! There was a lot of rereading to make sure I was understanding what the plot here was. I felt like I was trying to interpret a google translation at times.
Do that many Rifts campaigns take place in the 'Burbs? Because this and the next adventure assumes that too, but there's no reason for most PCs to be the Coalition's neighbors.
Spoiler: A crazy is killing people? What a fuckin' twist that was. Who could imagined?
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{Meanwhile, in a different game... how do I know it it isn't Rifts? Guy isn't hermetically sealed in mega-damage armor.}

Next: A rail disaster.

Volume Two, Part 6: "Game Masters, I suggest you roleplay a little of the setting, just to help relate the boredom (a few minutes in real time should begin to produce yawns)."

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Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 6: "Game Masters, I suggest you roleplay a little of the setting, just to help relate the boredom (a few minutes in real time should begin to produce yawns)."

Well, time for the part many folks are waiting for with Rifts reviews like this, and that's the fiasco. This is the part where the fiasco begins. with a railroaded, incoherent, and yet bizarrely arrogant adventure! And I'm the kind of person who thinks railroading gets a bit of a bad rap. A highly structured game can be fine, particularly for one-shots and conventions, or for games with strict genre conventions. I don't think anybody really has an issue with a game of Last Stand that runs like downtime > bug fight > downtime > bug fight > downtime > climactic bug fight. But an adventure like this can't stop there. It's the kind of adventure that directs the GM to emotionally manipulate the players or fool them to make its plot beats happen. It has a story to tell, and player choice is a pest to be swept aside so we can tell the story of The OBERMAX Imperative.

Click here for Part 1 of the review!
Click here for Part 2 of the review!
Click here for Part 3 of the review!
Click here for Part 4 of the review!
Click here for Part 5 of the review!
Click here for Part 6 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers Part 1 (of 3) for the adventure "The OBERMAX Imperative" written by Kevin E. Krueger, who will also work on Rifts World Book 17: Warlords of Russia.
"The OBERMAX Imperative is a study in what can go both right and wrong with genetic research." It is not.
The mysterious "Dragonmen" that attack? They never show up again.
The fact that the macguffin turns some guys into spider-monsters? Even for those exposed to it, it never happens again.
If this part is run as a single adventure, it's presumed the character's employer planned to sell the vials to a smuggler (despite needing them to cure his mutation?), and the PCs can just go an sell the dangerous bioweapon they're carrying to him, then blow town! (PCs: no sense of right or wrong.)
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{What if this happened in the adventure? That'd be pretty neat! Well, it doesn't.}

Next: Just pure, undiluted nonsense.

Volume Two, Part 7: "But it has to seem natural and seamless so that your players get the feeling of having made the decision themselves."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 7: "But it has to seem natural and seamless so that your players get the feeling of having made the decision themselves."

This is where I just start to break down because nothing makes sense anymore.

Click here for Part 1 of the review!
Click here for Part 2 of the review!
Click here for Part 3 of the review!
Click here for Part 4 of the review!
Click here for Part 5 of the review!
Click here for Part 6 of the review!
Click here for Part 7 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers Part 2 (of 3) for the adventure "The OBERMAX Imperative" written by Kevin E. Krueger.
After the fact I realized there are "grave ghouls" that resemble the ghouls in this adventure - but they aren't undead, like these are. They just look undead. So the author still goofed and gave us D&D ghouls instead of Palladium ghouls.
All the mutant rats are named after philosophers! Like Ninja Turtles and artists, except far more forgettable.
The psychic power Carathrax uses is titled "Word of Command". It does not exist in the game save for this one usage.
Here's a google map of Colfax, Illinois, for reference. Just in case you want to know how just how farcical it was that Chi-Town was built on top of it, much like Old New York in Futurama. (Except here, it's not a parody or farce, it's supposed to be perfectly serious.)
Carathrax has over 1000 M.D.C. with his defensive spells because he's a special author darling. I'm guessing his 500 M.D.C. body armor was made out of favoritium.
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{It's Carathrax!... or at least a leftover piece of art from Federation of Magic that subbed in.}

Next: Can't disarm the bomb? Don't worry, the villain will do it for you, choo choo.

Volume Two, Part 8: "Mayfair's eyes are particularly captivating and he's considered an irresistible female magnet."

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Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two, Part 8: "Mayfair's eyes are particularly captivating and he's considered an irresistible female magnet."
_feeemales

Well, this is the end, not just to this review, but to this review format. I think if I do more audio content, it'll be in a different format, to say the least. It was an interesting experiment, but it's also a lot of work and it's time to put it to bed. Still, I'm really happy how this last part with the OBERMAX Imperative came out, probably because I break down very genuinely. It's the maddening process of trying to react to an adventure that does not trust the gamemaster or players with its beautiful narrative.

Here's the full set of audio reviews done for Rifts, so I can be embarrassed by my amateurism for posterity:

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 1
Rifts Game Shield & Adventures
The Rifter Preview Reading
Rifts Index & Adventures Volume 2

And the complete set of links for this review!

Click here for Part 1 of the review!
Click here for Part 2 of the review!
Click here for Part 3 of the review!
Click here for Part 4 of the review!
Click here for Part 5 of the review!
Click here for Part 6 of the review!
Click here for Part 7 of the review!
Click here for Part 8 of the review!

Review Notes:

This part covers Part 3 (of 3) for the adventure "The OBERMAX Imperative" written by Kevin E. Krueger.
Mayfair and Carathrax are both amazing author darlings. "Mayfair's eyes are particularly captivating and he's considered an irresistible female magnet. However, he has little use for women unless they further his designs on acquiring personal glory." "The major problem in dealing with this irascible wizard [Carathrax] is that your characters have to be SMART to speak with him on any level he considers worthy."
It turns out Mayfair will disguise himself as a random crew member when the player characters attack the Skylifter to avoid notice. What this is supposed to accomplish is unclear, particularly once the whole plane is set to blow up anyway. Also, wouldn't the other Coalition guys notice? "Sir, we know who you are, you're still the commander, sir. Please give us orders and stop trying to pretend you're tightening bolts. Please, sir. We're in a fight for our lives, sir."
For some reason this adventure ends with a description of magical grippy flying jaws Carathrax has, no doubt meant to have him steal the OBERMAX container from the PCs. He never uses this in the course of the adventure, and if he did, it would break Part 3 of the adventure entirely. Why is it here?
This is the last of the indices they would publish. Rifts Book of Magic and Rifts Game Master's Guide will take their place as far as being the definite reference works of the game line.
The music used is "Hook, Line, and Sinker" by Apache Tomcat and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

_{The eternal battle between missile and bear rages on.}

THE END (?)

"Welcome to the savagery of Rifts Australia."

posted by Alien Rope Burn Original SA post

Rifts World Book 19: Australia, Part 13 - "Welcome to the savagery of Rifts Australia."

Weapons & Equipment

Because technology is hoarded by the tech-cities, Australia doesn't have an easy means of production when it comes to mega-damage weapons. Apparently, most people outside of the tech-cities only have S.D.C. weapons, with player characters being presumed to be the rare exception. This is one of the reasons, apparently, civilization in the Outback is on the brink of destruction, since monsters can seriously threaten them. They don't use the credit, instead using plastic, pre-rifts Australian dollars in some places. However, trade and barter are more common. For "ease of play" dollars are treated as equal to credits. Bionics are rare outside of the tech-cities, and full conversion cyborgs are practically unheard of.

We get a lot of general survival gear from firestarting devices to silt goggles. A lot of the technological devices used for survival in America are far more expensive outside of the tech-cities. Techno-wizard items are unheard of outside of the Mokoloi, and they aren't sharing. We get some general guidelines for S.D.C weapons, as well as boomerangs, pneumatic crossbows, and spears, but all of that is pretty academic because few PCs would be using them. That makes both the long list of weapon modifications you can make (from fancy grips to barrel extensions and so on) and the rules for weapon deterioration when finding a lost or abandoned gun. Granted, the weapon deterioration rules could be extended to mega-damage weapons, which honestly isn't a bad idea if you want to make finding "treasure" a bit more work than just finding it, requiring you to fix it up and make it usable.

_{Some Steyr AUG inspiration, seemingly...}

High-Tech Weaponry from Perth and and Melbourne (both mainly manufactured by the undetailed "NeraTech" or "ATA", which doesn't make sense because the two aren't connected, but whatever) is covered, giving us yet another stack of guns. The first group is just S.D.C. firearms, which we can skip. Mega-damage weapons like the NeraTech Light Energy Pistol, NeraTech M-01 Military and Police Sidearm, ATA 003, "Boom-Boom" Hard Ammo Sidearm, and ATA P-2/10 "Popper" High-Powered Derringer are all unexceptional for the game line save for the use of "EIPP" (pronouced "Eep!") technology. See, the cities banned use of energy weapons outside of the military, so manufacturers got around the ban by creating a liquid that's superheated and fired out of the barrel as a plasma "bullet", and so is mega-damage but isn't covered by the ban (yet). Other examples of the technology include the ATA "Super 10" Shotgun, which at least has a 50% chance of knocking down a humanoid-sized target to differentiate it. However, the illegal-to-civilians ATA "Mega-20" Shotgun" does much better damage but for some reason doesn't knock down. The ATA P-20/20 Plasma Sidearm and NeraTech M-21 Heavy Particle Beam Cannon are more conventional plasma weapons and are banned to civilians as a result. The M-21 at least has a "semi-crit" effect where it does more damage on a strike of 18+.

_{... but I'm pretty sure there's a reason bullpup pistols aren't shaped like this.}

_{Or this?}

_{what is this even no stop}

However, this book does try and vary up the typical weapons list a little:

NeraTech 1-20 "Mankiller" Ion Pistol: This is an ion weapon that (somehow, unlike other ion guns so far) that penetrates normal body armor (but not power armor / vehicles) and does damage directly to the S.D.C. of the wearer. It also can be used to try and damage electronics slightly, giving them a minor penalty that can be accumulated.
NeraTech Pn-50 "SplatterGun": This is basically just a paintball gun loaded with mega-damage acid or poisons. This can include sleep gas, which is a save-or-sleep if you don't have protection, and similarly nerve gas is very nasty, pretty much killing anybody who doesn't have environmental armor and isn't mega-damage. M.D. creatures still take serious damage, though demons are immune to it for unexplained reasons.
ATA "Pinpoint" Needler Handgun: Fires needles that (somehow) can penetrate mega-damage armor to deliver a poison. Drugged needles do damage directly to S.D.C. on a failed save, but minimal effect to mega-damage creatures.
ATA "20K" Volt-Taser: Another weapon that bypasses non-environmental personal armor, this pretty much takes somebody out for minutes on a failed save, or causes them to lose a few attacks otherwise. There's a military version that also does mild damage directly to the target as well. This is a classic "fires wires" kind of taser, and so it takes an attack to reel the electrodes back.
ATA A-50 "Icer" Energy-Arc Thrower This is essentially an electrolaser, using a laser to fire a lighting bolt. Despite its size and impressive SFX, though, it does crap damage. No, it doesn't have the effect of the taser above. That'd make sense!
NeraTech "Fletcher 12" Light Rail Gun or NeraTech "Bushcutter" Rail Gun are impressively garbage even for the game line, doing vastly less damage than a normal rail gun, but still having a strength requirement! Why bother? Similarly, the ATA P-20/50 Variable Frequency Sniper Rifle is like the Juicer rifle from the corebook; which is to say, does awful damage and won't help you score any sweet headshots.

_{no seriously is this ironic I don't even know anymore}

Next, we get Outback Armor or "homespun" armor, which is a long list of different S.D.C. and M.D.C. armors salvaged together. The real weakness of mega-damage homespun armor is that it has an Armor Rating - a mechanic from other Palladium games where if you roll higher than an armor's armor rating, you bypass it. Now, the intent is somewhat clear- it makes normal weapons potentially useful when fighting Roadgangers or the like, but it makes this armor potential suicide against mega-damage weapons, since one bad roll can kill you outright. It's interesting to see this book play with a lower tech level, but on a practical play level there are some definite issues (on top of the usual issues mega-damage presents), particularly with the fact most of the Outback player characters only start with homespun armor.

_{The tragedy of skull-free fascism.}

In any case, that leads us into High-Tech M.D.C. Body Armor produced by the tech-cities, though they've trickled out into the Outback sometimes though theft or loss. Base-4 Armored Clothing is the new technology presented here, a mega-damage cloth that can pass for clothing. Though it barely really provides much protection, and only mainly against energy weapons. Physical weapons still deal some S.D.C. damage due to the non-rigid nature of the protection even though logically they should smoosh you inside like a grape in a bag. However, sometimes it's made into an M.D.C. Trenchcoat with plates for crappy-but-better protection (hilariously, the helmet can have twice as much protection as the coat), or reinforced with an concealed M.D.C. Light Anti-Assassin Vest that provides some extra torso protection. Similarly, the M.D.C. Flak Vest and Police M.D.C. Armored Jump Suit provide only nominal protection.

_{Remember those horrific penalties on using a shield to block bullets? He doesn't.}

It's not until the Police & TRG M.D.C. Riot Armor (55 M.D.C.), Special Ops Heavy Combat Armor (115 M.D.C., and "Trencher" Body Armor (70 M.D.C.) pop up that we start to see more conventional M.D.C. armor like we see in the rest of the game line, highly prized by outsiders (and by definition, most player characters).

_{And shotgun design is timeless throughout the centuries.}

Overall, it's interesting to see them try something different, but it leads to binary situations where confrontations with M.D.C. weapons or with M.D.C. creatures can be highly lethal, and gives a big advantage to PCs playing supernatural types like Kwarla (who are mega-damage themselves and don't need constant repairs). There are no real tips on how to adjudicate this, sadly. I appreciate Lucas really trying to do something different and create more of a post-apocalypse feeling, at the same time how mega-damage works just makes the whole thing potentially unfun for players. Well, even more unfun than usual, anyway!

Next: How to be a post-apocalypse Ned Kelly.

Rifts Index & Adventures by Alien Rope Burn

Volume 1, Part 1: “Dedicated to the thousands of fans who have made the Rifts RPG® a part of their Megaverse®.”

Volume 1, Part 2: “G.M. Note: The scout’s fever makes him immune to the creature’s mind control powers, something that may serve the group well.”

Volume 1, Part 3: “It’s a picture of a pleasant looking woman in her forties, wearing a homespun dress and holding a kitten.”

Volume 1, Part 4: “If they investigate other rumors or leads, they may discover some answers or more disturbing questions, or stumble into the Juicer Uprising, or get themselves killed. Have fun.”

Volume 1, Part 5: “How would one assign an alignment value to a force of nature?”

Volume 1, Part 6: “Having gotten quite drunk, the major staggers back to headquarters, notices young Prosek, and says ‘Skelebot, hie ... there's that blasted Prosek, shoot him!’”

Volume 1, Part 7: “If the players open the barrels and complain, the GM can smile and explain that they were warned about the dangers.”

Volume Two, Part 1: "It can also be fun for the player characters to role play the creature once he or she has become a victim (I usually offer experience toward a new P.C. both as compensation and as an incentive for good role-playing of the creature)."

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

Rifts Index & Adventures Volume Two posted:

Volume Two, Part 2: "Upon investigation of the creature's lair, the group will uncover several skeletons and bones from children, putting to rest the string of child disappearances that had been taking place over the past six months."

Volume Two, Part 3: "The preacher has a good thing going here, and will certainly not appreciate the party's interference."

Volume Two, Part 4: "Ezekiel is not your average saloon bum."

Volume Two, Part 5: "And any robot pilot worth their marbles will tell ya that the materials used in the armor composition will block magic and psychic energies needed to casts spells."

Volume Two, Part 6: "Game Masters, I suggest you roleplay a little of the setting, just to help relate the boredom (a few minutes in real time should begin to produce yawns)."

Volume Two, Part 7: "But it has to seem natural and seamless so that your players get the feeling of having made the decision themselves."

Volume Two, Part 8: "Mayfair's eyes are particularly captivating and he's considered an irresistible female magnet."

"Welcome to the savagery of Rifts Australia."